Head Job with knock and white smoke

Hey everyone. My wife overheaded her 95' Contour GL 2.0L Zetec last Friday from a blown top rad hose. She let it cool off and drove it another two miles into a little town where they changed the hose and filled her antifreeze. They drove the car and said it was smokeing (white exhaust) and said the head gasket was blown. After they shut it down it wouldn't start again.

I had it towed home and started on it. I pulled it all apart and found antifreeze in cylinders #2 and #3. The head gasket didn't have any breeches, but the head was warped 0.004 in the center where the antifreeze was found. The local machine/motor shop decked the head 0.010 and installed new valve seals. They cleaned the head and I picked it up last night.

While waiting for it this week I cleaned the block with a razor and a wire brush and all cylinder bores with rubbing alchohol and cheese cloth and blew then out with compressed air. I changed all heater/rad hoses and bought new plugs for it.

Last night I put the head back on with all new intake/head/exhaust/thermostat gaskets. I torqued the head down and reinstalled the lifters to their original locations. They had been stored upside down in oil all week. I then installed the cams with new cam seals and set the timing with the block pin and timing tool. I rotated the cam pully and let the cams do a full rotation and the put the pin back into the block and could then slip the tool back into the cams. I figured that meant the timing should be fine.

I put it all back together and started the car. It started knocking. My heart sank. I tryed to comfort myself and thought a valve needed to seat so I let it run for 30 seconds. Puffy white smoke poured out the tailpipe while it ran. It does not smell at all sweet like antifreeze and it has me puzzled.

I pulled all the plugs and they are as clean as when they went in. No oil/antifreeze evidence. Shining a light into the plug hole reveals a clean dry piston. What the heck?? What's causing this white smoke?

I started the car again to see if the knock would quite down. Let it run for another 30 sec. Same deal.

Waited ten minutes - started it again. Same deal. I idles smooth as silk, but continues to knock and smoke. No idea what the heck to do. I think I will head back out and pull the valve cover and re-check the timing.

No sure what else to do. Any help/experience/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank in advance!

Sounds to me like a dry lifter. I've seen people follow the lifter bleeding procedure to the letter, soak them in oil, whatever, and when they're installed, they end up collapsing causing a nasty noise. It often takes some time to quiet down, up to 30 minutes at 2500 rpm! Double check the cams and lifters-- the lash, oil clearance, etc. Also make sure the top end is getting oil pressure and that the oil passages aren't blocked. If all is good, run it for a long while and see if it quiets down.

mcgarvey said:

Sounds to me like a dry lifter. I've seen people follow the lifter bleeding procedure to the letter, soak them in oil, whatever, and when they're installed, they end up collapsing causing a nasty noise. It often takes some time to quiet down, up to 30 minutes at 2500 rpm! Double check the cams and lifters-- the lash, oil clearance, etc. Also make sure the top end is getting oil pressure and that the oil passages aren't blocked. If all is good, run it for a long while and see if it quiets down.

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This might show my inexperience with head work, but how do I check the lash and oil clearance of the cams?

As far as top end oil pressure, The top of the head was soaked with oil when I pulled the valve cover off and re-checked the timing a minute ago. The timing looked fine, I had to pull on the exhaust cam a little to get the tool in it's slot, but I figure it is fine. Basically I took the little bit of slack out of the timing belt between the sprockets.

Is there a way to check the oil pressure on the top end? I have a fuel pressure gauage, but I sure don't think it will help me here!

Thanks for the help!

The timing should be fine, don't worry about it. That wouldn't cause a noise anyway.

I'm not aware of any way to check oil pressure at the head- what I meant really, and I apologize for being unclear-- is to make sure you're getting oil up there. And it sounds like you are.

As far as oil clearance, have you ever used plastigage? You remove the cam caps and lay a piece of plastigage across the cam journal, and then torque the caps down. Compare it to the clearance chart. Also, check the appearance and condition of the journals and bearings. They should be shiny and smooth, without any significant wear or imperfections.

I will dig out my service manual later and check the procedure for valve lash adjustment- my only experience is with 98 and up zetecs, which don't have hydraulic lifters. I'll post it tonight.

Good luck!

mcgarvey said:

The timing should be fine, don't worry about it. That wouldn't cause a noise anyway.

I'm not aware of any way to check oil pressure at the head- what I meant really, and I apologize for being unclear-- is to make sure you're getting oil up there. And it sounds like you are.

As far as oil clearance, have you ever used plastigage? You remove the cam caps and lay a piece of plastigage across the cam journal, and then torque the caps down. Compare it to the clearance chart. Also, check the appearance and condition of the journals and bearings. They should be shiny and smooth, without any significant wear or imperfections.

I will dig out my service manual later and check the procedure for valve lash adjustment- my only experience is with 98 and up zetecs, which don't have hydraulic lifters. I'll post it tonight.

Good luck!

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Oh OK. I have read and heard the term plastigage before, but never knew how it actually works. I guess it just allows you to check clearances with parts assembled where a feeler gauge wouldn't apply.

Good deal - thanks so much.

Plastigage should be available at any parts store. Google it and you should find lots of clear instructions on its use.

My service manual says basically that no valve lash adjustment is possible or necessary for valve lash on 95-97 zetecs. The hydraulic lifters should pump up with oil and take up any slack (lash). My advice is to check the camshaft journals and bearings and the oil clearance between them (.0008-.0027 inches is the acceptable range). If everything checks out, run it and rev it up a bit to get some oil in those lifters. Hopefully the noise clears up.

mcgarvey said:

Plastigage should be available at any parts store. Google it and you should find lots of clear instructions on its use.

My service manual says basically that no valve lash adjustment is possible or necessary for valve lash on 95-97 zetecs. The hydraulic lifters should pump up with oil and take up any slack (lash). My advice is to check the camshaft journals and bearings and the oil clearance between them (.0008-.0027 inches is the acceptable range). If everything checks out, run it and rev it up a bit to get some oil in those lifters. Hopefully the noise clears up.

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I checked everything out and it looked fine so I put it all back together and did just what you said - ran it. It knocked for a while then went completely quiet, then came back even louder and stalled the motor. It started hard, but eventually came back to life and then eventually quieted down. There is a very faint knock now, but it sure doen't seem like anything to worry about. Overall the motor sounds much better than before the overheating. It sure idles a lot smoother!

The white smoke must have been antifreeze in the exhaust because it slowly faded away and was gone with about 30 minuted of idling.

I also found out while running it the rad fan isn't running. I tested the motor and it's fine. It looks like the temp sending unit is fine too. The 60 amp fuse for it is good, but the coil on the relay sure looks bad when I tested it with my Fluke. I'll pick one up tomorrow. Sure couldn't have helped keep the engine cool before this!

Thanks a bunch for the help. I really appreciate you getting me through today!

It's happened to me lots of times where I was finishing an engine job at work and I go to start it up and it ticks and knocks like crazy. The first time I thought it was a bad engine-- and it was embarassing because the whole shop is staring at you thinking you screwed something up! I ended up letting it run for a while trying to pinpoint the source of the noise, and then like magic it just stopped. Now I know that lifters can collapse and I don't worry about it.

Anyway, Zetecs are noisy to begin with so maybe the sound you still hear is just that normal tick. Hope you can get that fan issue straightened out. Next time tell the wife to watch the temp gauge!

mcgarvey said:

It's happened to me lots of times where I was finishing an engine job at work and I go to start it up and it ticks and knocks like crazy. The first time I thought it was a bad engine-- and it was embarassing because the whole shop is staring at you thinking you screwed something up! I ended up letting it run for a while trying to pinpoint the source of the noise, and then like magic it just stopped. Now I know that lifters can collapse and I don't worry about it.

Anyway, Zetecs are noisy to begin with so maybe the sound you still hear is just that normal tick. Hope you can get that fan issue straightened out. Next time tell the wife to watch the temp gauge!

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I can see you would feel when you start it and hear that for the first time! I was sure doubting myself even though I was careful and thourough about everything.

I think you are right. I remember a little tick that it made before the overheating incendent and I don't think this is any different. I'll watch fluids for a while and keep an eye on it. I ordered the relay for the fan, but made a little adapter to use a standard auto relay for tomorrow until the relay with the right base comes in. That way she can get to work tomorrow.

Thanks again for the help!

Did the fan run with the adapted relay?